The Fastest Way To Remove An Old Tree Stump In Your Yard

Some home projects are better off left to the professionals, and removing tree stumps is one of them. There are many DIY methods you can try, but there are also plenty of common stump removal mistakes that can set your efforts back, leading to wasted effort and possible injury. One such mistake is putting off stump removal for a long time. If you want to avoid procrastinating, the fastest removal method is hiring a professional to grind the stump. 

Speed is necessary when dealing with stumps, because dead and dying trees are homing beacons for termites and other insect infestations. They might also impede your yard's water drainage and become breeding grounds for mosquites or plant diseases and fungi. To make matters worse, tree stumps can even be a liability. If someone is injured after tripping over an overgrown stump, they may have the right to take the property owner to court. Unfortunately, the average homeowner doesn't typically have the skills or equipment to quickly eliminate stumps themselves, and grinding often requires a permit.

Arborist services may be pricey. However, it's nowhere near as time-consuming and expensive as a stump removal after problems arise — homeowners may have to pay additional fees in situations that require insect infestation treatment or result in ongoing legal cases. Try out DIY tree stump removal methods if you feel capable, but remember that the fastest and most efficient route is hiring a licensed arborist.

Do some research to take the best approach before removing a tree stump from your yard. The fastest approach for removing stumps isn't up for much debate, as most agree the most efficient method is stump grinding. Tree companies can remove a stump with a professional stump grinder in less than 30 minutes, although larger tree stumps may take up to two hours. These machines work by grinding up stumps into tiny wood chips with a large metal cutting wheel. The wood chips can then be disposed of or repurposed as mulch. 

Grinding is exponentially quicker than other methods, but it's also an expensive service. According to Angi, it costs between $150 to $500 to grind a stump up to half a foot underground, with the cost dependent on the width of the stump and the type of tree. Still, that may be easier to swallow than all that comes with manually pulling the stump out of the ground, which takes much more time and has potentially higher labor costs. 

How long it takes to manually remove trees (roots and all) widely varies, depending on the stump's diameter, but it typically takes several hours. Surprisingly, other methods take even longer. Burning stumps takes hours to days, though the exact time frame is conditional on the size. Chemical treatments, a popular DIY approach, may take weeks to break down the wood. After a chemical treatment works its magic, the job still isn't done. Either the homeowner or a professional must perform the physical labor of chopping up and digging out the broken-down tree pieces, which adds even more time to the project.